Technology often supports blind and visually impaired people to achieve independence. However, the process can also work in reverse - hindering rather than helping. We speak to listeners about their experience of booking to see their favourite acts using Ticketmaster. And is an update to an app always good news? Maybe not if you're a blind user of Sonos speakers. We look at what's caused the upset and hear what Sonos is doing to put things right. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings/Fe...
May 28, 2024•18 min
Victoria Harrison is the UK's first totally blind ambassador to be posted overseas. In August she will take up the role as Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia, and will be accompanied by her guide dog Otto. Victoria tells Peter about how she got into the diplomatic service, coming up against peoples perceptions of visual impairment and her capabilities to be a diplomat, and about the positive interactions that can stem from being blind when negotiating with others who may have very different ...
May 21, 2024•19 min
Hayley Kennedy, Amar Latif and Dawn Hopper are all experienced visually impaired travellers and we have brought them together to discuss the positives and pitfalls of travelling around the world when visually impaired. We discuss booking airport assistance, getting your guide dog on an airplane, allocations of special assistance seats on airplanes and why it can be important to have a positive attitude. Hayley Kennedy is considered to be the only disabled person, let alone visually impaired pers...
May 14, 2024•19 min
What is non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder? It is a condition that impacts the natural body clock, thus affecting sleep, and can be triggered by a lack of or no light perception. Tina Snow got in touch after having suffered with this condition for most of her life and she struggled to get the treatment she needed. We have brought Tina together with a world expert in this condition to give information on how the condition works and how it can be treated effectively. We also hear from Tina's GP, who ...
May 07, 2024•19 min
As the charity Guide Dogs looked into its own future, they have predicted some financial hardship due to rising costs. Similarly to many organisations within the charity sector, they are having to come up with ways of cutting costs in order to maintain current levels of service provision. Their staff have been told that redundancies are a possibility for many. Guide Dogs' CEO Andrew Lennox tells In Touch what is happening and why, in his view, such cuts are necessary. With elections just around ...
Apr 30, 2024•19 min
The Disabled Students' Allowance enables students to get help with specialist equipment and in-person support, but over the years we've heard about persistent complications and delays. The system is operated by the Student Loans Company and they have now introduced some new processes that aim to reduce the problems that students are facing. David Thompson manages the DSA on behalf of the Student Loans Company and he gives details of the new system and why the changes were necessary. We also hear...
Apr 23, 2024•14 min
The communications regulator Ofcom has just made changes to its guidelines surrounding audio description provided by television and on-demand services. For the first time, there will be unique recommendations for on-demand providers. Helen Shaw is part of Ofcom's content policy team and tells In Touch about the amendments and how the Media Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, will impact access services more widely. And what is creative audio description? Our reporter Fern Lulham...
Apr 16, 2024•19 min
A new hotel in London, that belongs to a big-name franchise, initially declared on their website that service dogs are not welcome. Dave and Karen Cloherty were left in shock when they came to book a room for them and their guide dog for an annual appointment at Moorfield's Eye Hospital, given that the hotel in question is just a few minutes walk from the hospital. The hotel have since amended their website, but we hear about the case from the Clohertys and about the equality law that relates to...
Apr 09, 2024•19 min
In Touch discusses whether your blindness should be at the front and centre of your life. Perhaps an ambiguous question because it can depend on the environment you're in, the company that you share, whether you need help and many other factors. What is undoubtedly true though, is that it's not that easy to go completely under the radar with poor sight or none. We tease this out with author Andrew Leland, who spent time researching visually impaired people and the way society interacts with us, ...
Apr 02, 2024•19 min
Valeda Light Therapy is a new treatment that has been developed for Dry Age Related Macular Degeneration. It works by delivering three wavelengths of light to stimulate the layer of cells in the back of the eye, to keep them healthy for longer. In the UK, there are currently no effective medical treatments available and so In Touch cautiously investigates its potential. The treatment has been available to patients since the beginning of the year at an independent hospital in Manchester, operated...
Mar 26, 2024•19 min
Vision Rehabilitation is an essential service to newly blind or partially sighted people, and those whose sight has changed. It is a service that is provided by local councils and can help with things like technology, daily mobility and independent living skills. But new Freedom of Information data from the RNIB has highlighted that many local councils aren't providing this vital service in a timely manner. Resulting in thousands of blind and partially sighted people without the help that they a...
Mar 19, 2024•19 min
The Northern Ireland Assembly, the country's devolved legislature, have recently reformed after years of political stalemate. In Touch investigates the issues that arose during the Assembly's years of inactivity and that will have potential long-term impacts for visually impaired people. Some of the changes to the UK's benefit system uniquely impacts people in Northern Ireland because it has meant that many are no longer automatically entitled to free eye tests. This is something that many fear ...
Mar 12, 2024•19 min
Northern Ireland recently hosted its first major assistive technology conference. The conference was hosted by the RNIB at the Europa Hotel in Belfast and it was home for the day to all the big players in the assistive technology arena. In Touch went along to find out what the latest tech has to offer and the kinds of things visually impaired people were interested in. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smi...
Mar 05, 2024•19 min
2024 promises to be hugely significant for political change around the world, with more than eighty countries planning to head to the polls. The UK being one of them. This year will see not only a general election, but local elections and others. Niki Nixon is from The Electoral Commission, and she provides details of what visually impaired people need to consider before voting, especially regarding photographic ID. We examine your experiences with energy companies and AIHDs and we answer a list...
Feb 27, 2024•19 min
Tonight's edition challenges any idea that there are limits to the ways in which visually impaired people can have fun! Shiraz Cohan is the founder of the UK Blind Baseball Association. He joins us with Lancashire Lions team mate Shoaib Nazir and Ray Clements from the Liverpool blind Trojans. They tell us how the sport has been adapted to make it accessible to blind and visually impaired people and what is being done to grow the number of UK teams. The UK Blind Baseball Association can be contac...
Feb 23, 2024•19 min
Mixmups is a new children's TV show that aims to integrate disability into everyday adventures and children's play. The show was created by Rebecca Atkinson, who has duel sensory loss, when she realised the lack of representation in children's toys. She took her Mixmups characters to Mackinnon & Saunders, who are the studio behind some iconic kids TV shows, such as: Postman Pat, Bob the Builder and Fantastic Mr. Fox. The show follows four characters, one is visually impaired and one is a whe...
Feb 20, 2024•19 min
A recent YouGov poll, commissioned by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment, has found that many employers do not have inclusive employment practices. This may not come as a surprise to many blind and partially sighted people who have experienced employment or are seeking employment and so we assess what needs to happen in order to dispel the persistent misconceptions and to ensure more employment opportunities for visually impaired people. To help us tackle this ...
Feb 13, 2024•19 min
Can blind people play baseball or be morris dancers? Of course they can!
Feb 06, 2024•19 min
Local sight loss charities exist throughout the UK to provide practical and emotional support to blind and visually impaired people. We wanted to learn more about the services they offer and the challenges they face. Fiona Sandford is the CEO of Visionary, the membership organisation for these charities and she joins us to answer our questions. The immensely popular BBC programme Doctor Who recently celebrated it's 60th anniversary. We look at how the show has been made more accessible to its ma...
Jan 30, 2024•19 min
Accessible In Home Displays (AIHDs) work with Smart Meters so that blind and visually impaired people can more easily monitor their use of energy. Their features include large buttons, high contrast displays and text to speech functions. Around a year ago, we looked at complaints from listeners about problems in obtaining AIHDs from their supplier and were hopeful that the issue had been resolved. However, it's clear that some problems remain. We speak to a listener who contacted us about their ...
Jan 23, 2024•19 min
With a general election a certainty at some point this year, two recent developments have alarmed organisations representing disabled people. Before 2020, there was a fund that provided financial aid to disabled people running for elective office, but that fund has not yet been reinstated. And also: its being argued that in the Prime Minister's latest cabinet reshuffle, the role of Minister for Disabled People has been downgraded. We discuss what these developments mean for visually impaired peo...
Jan 16, 2024•19 min
The Transport (Scotland) Act has been in place since 2019, which includes a nation-wide ban of parking cars on pavements. But only in December 2023 were local councils across Scotland given the powers to enforce fines of up to £100 to people doing so. Some local councils are saying that they need more funding and resources to be able to conduct assessments of their streets and to implement enforcement. We put this to Scotland's Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop and we hear from visually impaired r...
Jan 09, 2024•19 min
Andrew Lennox took over as the CEO of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in September 2023. We thought we'd give him a little time to get his feet under the table but now he joins us to describe his vision for the future of the charity and what they plan to do about the long waiting lists for new and replacement dogs. Roger Sharp has always had a passion for cars; building them, repairing them and racing them and when he lost his sight at the age of 48, that passion didn't fade. Roger has ...
Jan 02, 2024•19 min
Stuart Hann is The Blind Chocolatier and he has a small shop in the Lake District. Stuart worked as a pastry Chef before he was diagnosed with Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy in 2015. It is a rare eye condition that impacts his central vision. Stuart is now registered legally blind and uses various adaptations in his kitchen and shop to create a variety of artisan chocolates. Here at In Touch we love chocolate and so we couldn't resist paying him a visit to hear about his process and, most i...
Dec 26, 2023•19 min
Peter White pays a visit to the school that he used to attend, now called New College Worcester, to find out how some of the current pupils are preparing for Christmas. They tell him about what is happening at the college over the festive period, how they deal with the chaos of present unwrapping and knowing who has got what and they discuss inappropriate presents they have received as visually impaired people. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Webs...
Dec 19, 2023•19 min
Ophthalmology is the busiest outpatient speciality in the NHS, with 8 million attendances in England in the last two years. However, there is a crisis of capacity and many patients are not receiving the specialist treatment that they need to retain their vision. The Eyes Have It is a partnership are trying to change that. It is comprised of the Macular Society, Fight for Sight / Vision Foundation, RNIB, Association of Optometrists, The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and Roche. The partnership...
Dec 12, 2023•19 min
When you have a visual impairment, it can be very valuable for your own wellbeing to connect with other visually impaired people and share tips and advice on life. And when you are a young person with a visual impairment, there can be a lot to think about in regard to your future. Well, sight loss charity Look UK is aiming to bridge the gap for young visually impaired people with a mentoring programme. With the help from some of the scheme's current mentees and mentors, we discuss how it works a...
Dec 05, 2023•19 min
A few weeks ago, many In Touch listeners would have given a huge sigh of relief when it was announced that the plans to close ticketing offices at England's train stations had been revised. That got us thinking about what is happening elsewhere in the UK. In Scotland, there are no plans to close any ticket offices but, following a consultation, ministers are yet to reach a decision on their opening hours. We delve into this with Alastair Dalton, who is the transport correspondent for The Scotsma...
Nov 28, 2023•19 min
AbilityNet TechShare Pro was a technology conference that happened last week, hosted by HSBC and organised by the charity AbilityNet. AbilityNet's ambition is to get more disabled people involved with technology. The conference brought together some of the biggest names within the tech industry to discuss recent developments and what can be expected in the future, including artificial intelligence and legislation. Kelly Barton and Mike Leatherbarrow were once strangers but they met and fell in l...
Nov 21, 2023•19 min
Anthony Doerr's 2014 war novel All The Light We Cannot See has been adapted into a four-part TV series on Netflix. The story is based in Nazi-occupied France during World War Two, and revolves around a blind character called Marie-Laure LeBlanc and a German boy, Werner Pfennig, who is pressed into serving as an anti-German radio broadcast interceptor for the Nazi army. Aria Mia Loberti plays the role of Marie in the series and she joins us from Rhode Island to share what the experience was like ...
Nov 15, 2023•34 min
